Saturday, September 24, 2011

Author Interview/Giveaway - Ward Against Death by Melanie Card

Describe your book in five words or less.

Murder + Necromancer + Undead Assassin = love

How did the ideas for your books come to you?

My ideas come in many different ways. Usually it starts with a character. At the time I was inspired to write Ward Against Death two things happened. The first, I was pondering the question: in what situation could a necromancer be good instead of evil?—because sometimes I like to play around with expectations. I liked the idea of an unexpected hero, but I wasn’t sure what form he’d take. And the second thing was watching Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hallow late one night on TV. Johnny Depp's portrayal of Ichabod Crane was quirky and endearing and determined… and he got the girl! And out of that my hero, Ward, was born.

Is there a message in your novel that you want readers to grasp?

I don’t intentionally write with a message but usually my stories are about finding one’s self. About discovering strengths and weaknesses, truly seeing one ’s self and truly being seen by someone else. And by that “being seen” realizing that you are worthy of love.

What is the hardest part of writing for you? What's the easiest?

For me the first draft is usually the hardest part. Once I have a foundation I can add, replace, and rearrange with relative ease. I don’t necessarily enjoy edits (I don’t get the same satisfaction that I get from writing a scene and realizing it’s gone in a different direction that I thought it would go and amazing new possibilities have opened up), but editing usually is a smoother process for me.

What's next for you? Are you currently working on or have plans for future projects?

Next for publication is the second book in the Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer series. The adventures of Ward and Celia continue with more undead creatures and evil necromancers. Future projects include books three and four in the Chronicles of a Reluctant Necromancer series.

Why did you choose to write for specific genre?

I’m not sure why I always seem to choose to write fantasy, be it historical fantasy like Ward Against Death, urban fantasy, or paranormal romance, but I do. I grew up in a home where my father and brother read science fiction and my mother read mysteries. And save for the collection of Grimm’s fairy tales and a copy of Alice in Wonderland, there wasn’t a lot of fantasy in the house—at least until I starting buying my own books. The adventure in fantasy, the time periods and the magic that can do or become anything appeals to me. There’s a feeling of romance with fantasy, and I get to live that romance by being able to read and write about people who can do wondrous things. I think that drew me in as a child and has held me captive ever since.

What's it like hearing that readers are eagerly awaiting your book's release date?

It’s very exciting to hear people are eagerly awaiting Ward & Celia’s next adventure. You never really know what kind of a response you’re going to get when you set your book free and let people read it. The response from everyone has been overwhelming and I’m so flattered that people are enjoying it.

What is one question that you've always wanted to be asked in an interview? How would you answer that question?

I’ve been asked a whole variety of wonderful questions since I started doing interviews for Ward Against Death. I wouldn’t say that there’s any one question I’ve been wanting someone to ask. I will give you a strange fact though. The surgery Ward performs in the book is based on a procedure described in the writings by Guy de Chauliac (a 12th century French surgeon).

What was your road to publications like?

From first “serious” submission to acceptance it took me almost seven years to make my first sale (I say “serious submission” because when I was in high school I sent out a short story to a literary magazine, was rejected, and didn’t send anything out again until the “serious” submission).

After the first serious submission I queried my books to agents and editors, entered them in contests, received requests for more, and received rejections. While I did that, I wrote the next book, and the next book and… you get the point.

Ward Against Death was the second book I wrote during this process, but it wasn’t until I’d written seven novels that I made my first sale to Entangled Publishing. Will we see those novel s in the future? For some, I hope so. For others… well, let’s just say they’re hiding under my bed and will probably stay there. I learned a lot writing all those books. I suspect I will continue to learn as I write more books.

Author Bio

Melanie has always been drawn to story telling and can't remember a time when she wasn’t creating a story in her head. Her early stories were adventures with fairies and dragons and sword swinging princesses.

Today she continues to spin tales of magic in lands near and far, while her cat sits on the edge of her desk and supervises. When she’s not writing, you can find her pretending to be other people with her local community theatre groups.

Please leave a comment/question on this post in appreciation of the author.

Book Description CHRONICLES OF A RELUCTANT NECROMANCER - Book One

Twenty‐year‐old Ward de’Ath expected this to be a simple job—bring a nobleman’s daughter back from the dead for fifteen minutes, let her family say good‐bye, and launch his fledgling career as a necromancer. Goddess knows he can’t be a surgeon—the Quayestri already branded him a criminal for trying—so bringing people back from the dead it is.

But when Ward wakes the beautiful Celia Carlyle, he gets more than he bargained for. Insistent that she’s been murdered, Celia begs Ward to keep her alive and help her find justice. By the time she drags him out her bedroom window and into the sewers, Ward can’t bring himself to break his damned physician’s Oath and desert her.

However, nothing is as it seems—including Celia. One second, she’s treating Ward like sewage, the next she’s kissing him. And for a noble‐ man’s daughter, she sure has a lot of enemies. If he could just convince his heart to give up on the infuriating beauty, he might get out of this alive…